The German Hofner brand had been around for many years before the Beatles gave the company the kind of free worldwide publicity that marketing departments and advertising executives can only dream about. The Hofner name has always been synonymous with quality, and this fully imported prototype/evaluation model is no exception.
Evaluation models
Several years ago, Hofner designers came up with this Jazzmaster-styled model, of which this was the final prototype. They produced a small number of “evaluation models”, which were handed to select dealers overseas to assess. Dealers liked the guitar, however Hofner ultimately decided not to proceed with the model perhaps not wanting to go head-to-head with Fender over the Jazzmaster similarities. There’s no official model name, but the model is believed to have been worked on as Model 179.
Mint condition
This is prototype/evaluation model number 4, (pencilled on the butt of the neck, and hand-inked on the back of the headstock – see photos 5 and 6), and if you look closely at photo number 3, you might make out signs of the scratchplate being hand cut. The guitar is in Mint condition, with the plastic still on the pickups, scratchplate and truss-rod cover.
Lindy Fralins?
Maple body, with a rich Sunburst finish, Grover tuners, stop tailpiece and fully adjustable tune-o-matic bridge, 3-way pickup switch, volume and two tone controls, fully bound neck and headstock, plus the super-cool looking vintage-style scratchplate. Pickups are a pair of honking Gibson-style humbuckers, (which look suspiciously like a $400 set of Lindy Fralin Nickels). Fully pole-adjustable, these things pack a mean punch! Click the LISTEN button there on the right and be amazed.
Twenty-seven
Leaving the best(?) til last, the Rosewood board has a lovely flat 14” profile, with 22 medium frets, plus the most amazing inlaid Abalone dot markers we’ve ever seen – twenty-seven of them! This really is an incredible piece of work, and a pity it never went into production. Oh well, at least you’ll have the only one in Australia!
Free shipping
Complete with its original gig bag, this spectacular Hofner ships FREE to any address in Australia! ($100 shipping to New Zealand, $175 to the USA, Canada, UK and mainstream European countries)
Just Guitars
